WINTERTHERM - "THERE'S NO HEAT LIKE IT" 

Ask your mother how amazed she was years ago, when instant coffee first appeared? Those tiny, crystals immediately turned into tasty coffee as soon as hot water was poured into the cup.

Now the very latest in home comfort, "WINTERTHERM", a heating system that has almost too many advantages to be true, has arrived. I recently met the first buyer and installer of this holistic system in the entire world! He likes the system so much, he may buy the company!

While receiving a "Paul Harris Fellow" tribute from Rotary International in Nisku, Alberta, I ran into Jim Sparrow, owner of the Nisku Airport Motel just next door to the Edmonton International Airport. He was the first to select and "gamble" on this innovative heating method of heating. From the highway the modern wood frame motel, completed in October, 1991, looks like dozens of other attractive motels lining any highway. Fairly conventional ... until you hear about the heating system. As anyone north of the 49th parallel knows, Edmonton is not quite tropical in wintertime, regardless of the exotic ads showing beaches, wave machines and palm trees in the Edmonton Mall. However, when tied into a WINTERTHERM system designed by an Edmonton company that combines FLEXWATT radiant heating panels, with heat recovery ventilation and ultra-insulated windows, a big change occurs. First, and not the least, the owner doesn't go broke trying to heat a motel, office or living room during Edmonton's six month winter with below 50 degree F. days. In a motel that means the traveller doesn't pay such stiff rates just to lay his body down for a few hours.

From October 1991 through March, 1992 heating costs in Jim Sparrow's motel ran from 70 cents to $1 per room day including ventilation costs. This is comparable to $4 to $8 per day for older traditional systems. Capital cost savings also were substantial, even considering expensive upgrading to 6.4 R factor windows and even higher insulation. Side benefits included minimal maintenance, no pollution, no noise, little fading of upholstery fabrics due to ultra violet radiation and reduced annual repaintings of bathrooms due to controlled humidity levels. The holistic design approach appears to be winning the day.

In a controlled test, with a room locked for four months in the Nisku motel, minimal dusting was required at the end of the test period and there was no dusty or musty odour. In another project originally designed to require 38 tons of air conditioning, only six tons was needed. Still another project in Edmonton, Riverwind Towers, also contains a full WINTERTHERM system.

Mr. Sparrow reports that because his hotel is almost dust and allergy free, housekeeping costs are reduced, because of the EnviroHeat-X-Changer filtered fresh air and superior sound-proofing of rooms. Planes continually land and take off from the Edmonton International Airport, a hundred metres away. They are seen but not heard.

Although it is the combined synergy of the three main components to the system that allows such dramatic cost savings, the most intriguing part is the FLEXWATT panel shown here. It looks like a flexible sheet of thin plastic with wavy lines painted on it. Electrical clamps fasten on to the sheeting and produce heat. Heat doesn't get to a combustible temperatures, but remains low and steady. Using less electricity costs less. Coupled with the superior windows and heat recovery and humidity control systems, auxiliary costs also are reduced.

According to Brian Earle of WINTERTHERM, by the time Mr. Sparrow needs to replace his rugs, the used material can be recycled into new rugs and Sparrow may end up getting a trade-in allowance on the old rugs because they will be so clean.

As globalization shifts into high gear, it looks like some Canadians are getting making themselves more competitive with WINTERTHERM.

For more information: Brian A. Earle, Marketing, WINTERTHERM Systems Inc., 4254-93 St., Edmonton, Alberta T6E 5P5. Phone: 403/448-0757. Fax: 403/463-8223.

Jim Sparrow, President, The Sparrow Group and The Nisku Motel, P.O. Box 100, Nisku, Alberta T0C 2G0. Phone: 403/986-7878. Fax: 403/986-5510.

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